Malaria is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, affecting millions of people annually. A major problem in treating malaria arises from the fact that some blood parasites that cause the disease have become resistant to the commonly used antimalarial drugs. Therefore, there is a need for new chemical agents that are strongly active against the parasitic protozoans responsible for malaria infections, most notably Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum), the resistant parasite responsible for the greatest number of deaths from malaria.
Chloroquine (CQ, 1) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ, 1a) are known for their antimalarial activities and as inhibitors of autophagy in mammalian cells. Ferroquine (FQ, 2), which reached phase IIb trials, and structurally-modified ferroquines have also been intensely studied as antimalarials. (parasitesandvectors.com/content/7/1/424).
